West Nyack: Bald eagle felled by lead poisoning rescued

Cornell University rescued the raptors in Onondaga County in January 2018 after becoming ill with high levels of lead and other poisons. The photos of their recovery were provided by Cornell.
Joseph Spector, Albany Bureau

The eagle found in West Nyack as it was being transported upstate to be rehabilitated.(Photo: Contributed)

WEST NYACK - A dose of lead poisoning downed a majestic bald eagle on Strawtown Road Wednesday, leading neighbors to follow the iconic raptor until it could be captured for treatment.

They saved the life of the eagle, which was resting comfortably at a wildlife center hours from Rockland, feasting on a special diet of vitamins to boost the bird's immune system, said Ellen Miller Kalish, a former Valley Cottage resident who operates the non-profit Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties.

Biologists estimate that about 150 bald eagles overwinter in the lower Hudson Valley. Every year their return affirms the continued health of the Hudson River and nearby habitats for wildlife and people.

According to Phyllis Bock, director of education at Teatown Lake Reservation, some of those eagles are year-round residents of the lower Hudson Valley that nest here and raise their young.

Other birds migrate from further north when reservoirs, lakes and the northern reaches of the Hudson freeze in the winter.

The eagle found along Strawtown Road likely has a mate in the Hudson River and Palisades region, Kalish said.

Kalish drove down to Rockland on Wednesday evening to capture the bird.

She said lead poisoning was causing her to start losing her eyesight and other bodily functions.

The bird of prey likely became toxic from feeding on carcasses of animals that had been shot during the winter when its diet of fish is limited by the river's icy conditions, she said.

Karen O'Rourke McGlinchey of Strawtown Road originally discovered the eagle. She and her 10-year-old son and two of his friends had just parked in their garage about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"They got out of the car first and walked outside the garage and I hear screaming," McGlinchey said. "I hear an animal sound and I am thinking a dog. My son tells me a cat attacked the eagle. I think he's exaggerating.

"But when I get out of the garage, I see 20 feet in front of us one of the cats that roam around the neighborhood. The eagle was trying to get away from the cat. I expected the eagle to fly. It hops, getting some flight."

McGlinchey said she followed the hopping eagle through several of her neighbors' yards.

"It can't fly," she said. "Every time it saw me get close it would move away. I tried to be discreet. I didn't want to lose the eagle for fear it would get hurt."

She said she called her neighbor Ron Breland and Clarkstown Animal Officer Patricia Coleman, who tried to capture the bird.

A female American Bald Eagle found injured in the high brush along Strawtown Road in New City.(Photo: Submitted Karen O'Rourke)

The eagle ended up hiding in high brush on Breland's property, next door to McGlinchey's yard.

Feeling safe in the brush, the eagle "shut down and put her beak to her chest," she said. "We watched. We needed an expert."

McGlinchey said a major concern was they didn't know whom to call in Rockland or what was wrong with the bird. She also feared this eagle was one of the two that nest in the area.

She said a neighbor later told her about seeing the two local eagles, so she was relieved to learn a new raptor had joined the neighborhood.

Breland reached out to Kalish.

"We felt so vulnerable," McGlinchey said. "There was no one around. Ellen was a light in the dark."

When Kalish arrived between 730 and 8 p.m., she went right to work, with state environmental conservation officer Jonathan Walraven. Kalish later said she's rescued hundreds of raptors during her 18 years as a rehabilitator.

Kalish said she couldn't use a net because the eagle was secure in the deep brush.

"I put on my gloves and walked in," Kalish said. "She took two steps and I got her."

Kalish said the eagle had no physical injuries that prevented her from flying other than lacerations on her feet from hopping on the ground.

The eagle pressing her head down and beak to her breast was a sign of lead toxicity, Kalish said.

"Probably in a few days she would have starved to death," she said. "She had no injuries.

Kalish said eagles can ingest deadly levels of lead from eating fish and animal carcasses.

She suggested hunters not use lead bullets but copper or stainless steel ammunition, and those who fish not use lead sinkers.